Exterior Paint Colors That Could Help Sell Your House

There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to transform the overall look of your home's exterior.

When you're trying to sell your home, the color you paint the exterior can affect a prospective buyer's perception of your house. You want a color that's going to attract the broadest range of buyers, so traditional colors or classic neutrals are usually the best bet. This isn't the time to get creative, since many potential buyers tend to be turned off by unique colors. It's challenging to make a paint selection, considering the vast array of colors and shades available. Start by studying important features that impact your decision, then consider fail-proof colors that never go out of style or popular trends that experts believe are going to stick around for years to come.

RE Resources Team

Aspects that Influence Exterior House Colors

There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint to transform the overall look of your home's exterior. The challenge is choosing the perfect exterior paint color that could help sell your home. Things like regional and neighborhood standards, unchangeable construction material colors and your home's size and style all play a part in your decision.

The area where your home is located plays a role, with inland communities fond of earth tones, whereas coastal towns prefer pastels. Neighborhood trends also affects color choices, because you shouldn't choose a color that severely clashes with your neighbors' exteriors. While this doesn't mean you have to paint your exterior the same as your neighbors' home, it's smart to choose one that blends in with your neighborhood's overall look.

Other colors that already exist on your exterior that can't be changed also impact your decision. These fixed colors could include the darker flecks of color in your brick, the hue of your roofing shingles or highlight colors in your stonework. Choose a complementary exterior paint color for a cohesive color scheme.

Another factor is your home's architectural style. Many homes look more attractive when you stick to period colors, for example formal Colonials stand out in white, while Victorians come to life with bolder colors. Although there are 1,000s of paint colors to choose from, after carefully considering various factors, you'll probably discover there are actually only a few suitable for your home.

Color Choices

While most exterior paint color trends will last for years, some trendy choices fade, so most experts agree that traditional color choices trump trendy ones. Enduring shades include whites, grays and tans, which are the safest choices for lasting appeal, which may help sell your home.

You really can't go wrong white, which offers timeless appeal and is one of the safest and most popular colors for home exteriors. It makes your home look clean and can even make it look larger, which is especially important for smaller houses. One potential problem with white, however, is choosing between the 1,000s of different shades of white. Besides pure white, other shades are commonly termed off-white and considered neutral colors. Shades of white can include eggshell, cream, ivory and vanilla. Wheat is a buttery in-between shade that's not quite white, but almost yellow, and offers a clean, warm feel to your exterior.

Grays come in both warm or cool colors and make an ideal choice for almost any home, no matter it's location, age or style. It also comes in a wide range of shades and is considered sophisticated with modern, yet timeless style. Putty is a newer, neutral shade of gray that's quickly become a popular choice for exteriors. For a neutral shade that's less boring, cypress green, which is a cross between gray and green, is a favored choice.Whether your home is near the water or not, some homebuyers look for homes with a nautical feel, so choose blue grays and other shades of blue, which also promote serenity.

While tan is part of the brown family, many shades of yellow border on tan and offer popular, slightly brighter shades to help sell your home. Yellow is considered a warm, happy color, but to attract the most potential buyers, avoid overly bright yellows. Stick with pale shades like pale straw or ocher, which both border on tan. Soft yellows have been a popular choice for exterior paint since the Colonial days, which make them ideal for grand Colonial houses, but also work equally well for quaint cottages.

Some restricted communities, historical neighborhoods or homeowner's associations may have restrictions on colors you can paint your home's exterior, so research potential restrictions. If you're having a hard time choosing a color, stroll through your neighborhood for inspiration based on which colors you're drawn to most.